History

About Mountain Running

Man’s need to run quickly over both short and long distances is as old as humankind. To be fast helped him to survive, to catch an animal for food, to escape from danger and natural catastrophes, to be successful in war or, as in the case of the first marathon, to take messages.

And where did this hunter, warrior, messenger live? Probably somewhere in the hilly countryside. There were no roads, no tunnels to avoid the mountains, no bridges to cross rivers. He therefore had to run over hills, over mountains, through forests, across rivers as fast as he could. He was not running for medals, or money, or trophies or glory, he was running to survive.

Today this need is no longer necessary, but there is bred into us a desire to run in the nature and over the mountains and so we have our mountain running competitions, where medals, trophies and money replace the historic basic need of survival.